24 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp

[Mary Stetler]

On the topic of mosquitoes, this is what is happening here, too, @Mary Stetler . We have had a lot of rain this year, and lots of mosquitoes also. I read that original Jergens Lotion, the one we all loved with the cherry almond fragrance, is supposed to repel mosquitoes, so I got a small bottle to try and see if it actually helps. I love the smell, in any case.

Tried Skin So Soft by Avon on horses. Wasn't much help although it was supposed to be.

 

[Mary Stetler]

Mary, I didn't realize how much of a farmer you were, hope the rains stay at bay for you.

Just a hobby farm that is out of hand.

 

[Mary Stetler]

My father-in-law, who grew up in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl and relocated to Iowa later, always said it broke his heart to see the farmers remove the trees to make way for bigger tractors and equipment. The topsoil would blow and lead to Black Snow during the winter if they did fall plowing. Friends from North Carolina, when visiting Iowa, said they couldn't understand why all the farm fields were burned. It turns out they had never seen black topsoil before. Iowa and areas of Ukraine have the richest soil in the world.

Almost every time I see bad practices it breaks my heart. Wisconsin has lots of different types of soil. Some seems solid sand where they grow potatoes and Christmas trees, some is clay and a bit is loam and rocks from ice age deposits. I built mine from leaving animals roam in the indoor without bedding if I could not get hard wood waste. Took all the manure our and dumped it in the area that would become the 'garden'. the soil is black now. It used to be clay. Leaving animals in the pasture helped that soil become productive,